Laughter in Panem

"I drink in his wholeness, the soundness of his body and mind. It runs through me".

Catness Everdene - The Hunger Games.

"Someone has said that a neurotic is a person who builds fantasy houses, a psychotic is someone who builds these and lives in them, and a psychiatrist is someone who charges rent. Christians shouldn't live in fantasy houses. By looking away from the reality of pain and suffering in the world, we create a realm that doesn't exist and then try to live in it, but the last person in the world who ought to be unrealistic about anything is the Christian".

Steve Brown - A Scandalous Freedom.

Sweetness on the lips, laughter in the soul, amidst such present agony.

How is it possible?

This morning I awoke to a land plagued by a virus, not of physical ill-health (though there's plenty of that around), but of soul death, and yet, deep, rich laughter warmed my heart in the early hours amidst these trials.

How can it be?

What brought such joy was the opening pages of Doug Wilson's book, Joy at the end of the tether - the inscrutable wisdom of Ecclesiastes.

I'm going to share that opening statement of the book here, because it speaks volumes to where we as believers should be right now, so prepare for a feast in the wilderness, and then, get this delight for yourself.

Here we go: 'De Profoundus'

"Our word profound comes from the latin profundus, which means deep. Most cheerfulness in the world is quite the opposite of this - superficial and shallow. Thump it hard enough and it will be sure to make a hollow sound. Of course we must also note that much deep thinking is melancholy. From such data we might conclude that deep is doleful and everything cheerful is a superficial waste of time. The great Hebrew philosopher who wrote the book called Ecclesiastes calls us to a joy which thinks, a joy which does not shrink back from the hard questions. He calls us to meditation, but to a meditation which does not despair. And he points out repeatedly, shutting-off every avenue of escape, that only believers can enjoy the vanity which surrounds us on every side".

Wisdom in spades. The last line is replete with a truth that drips the exquisite fat of heavenly ambrosia into our bones! There is a beauty, a weight, that is behind it all that is longing to feed us now (Psalm 23:5), and when we taste even a morsel of that immeasurable goodness, our souls rise in dance and rapture.

That's why I found myself laughing hard today.

May that richness be shared by us all.